Best states (west of great lakes) for cycling

wrote:
Just A User wrote:

Well I am moving to get away from the over crowded feeling of the east
coast and to get away from the excessive humidity that is here in
Florida and a certain mold spore that is more prevelent in the southeast.

The Colorado Front Goathead Preserve
is plenty crowded, imo, but I'm just going
to throw this out there -- Fort Collins. Small-mid
university city, about an hour north of
Denver. If you want to go car free or at
least use your bike as your primary
transportation, the Fort would be very
hard to beat. It is incredibly easy to ride
a bike around that town. They have created
and continue to create a remarkable
infrastructure for transportational cycling.
The road riding in surrounding areas varies
from fantastic to ho-hum -- if recreational
cycling is your main thing you might consider
Boulder, which is the home base for many of
the great road rides in Colorado. Boulder is
expensive, and hard to take in many ways,
however. Fort Collins is more low-key.

Oh yeah -- Bring some REMA patchkits, and
follow the directions in the box.

Robert

Well the only city in CO thats on my list so far if Colorado Springs.
But my list is still evolving so some cities that are on there now are
going to go away, while others will probably be added, so those you
mentioned may yet make my list.

Ken

wrote:
Just A User wrote:

Yeah but that law is for those under 16 years of age, I am in my 30's.

And it's not like these laws are enforced anyway.

Correction: Those laws are enforced, simply capriciously. You know, if
you're doing something the police don't like but can't cite you for. Or
they don't like the look of you in general.

--
Dane Buson -
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased
at the price of chains of slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!
I know not what course others may take, but as for me,
give me liberty, or give me death!!" -Patrick Henry

Dane Buson wrote:
wrote:
Just A User wrote:

Yeah but that law is for those under 16 years of age, I am in my 30's.
And it's not like these laws are enforced anyway.

Correction: Those laws are enforced, simply capriciously. You know, if
you're doing something the police don't like but can't cite you for. Or
they don't like the look of you in general.

Yeah or if the cop is bored enough from doughnuts and needs something to
keep them awake and sees a cyclist without a helmet and thinks well it's
stupid but it gives me something to do.

Ken

On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 10:56:21 -0800, Dane Buson
wrote:

wrote:
Just A User wrote:

Yeah but that law is for those under 16 years of age, I am in my 30's.

And it's not like these laws are enforced anyway.

Correction: Those laws are enforced, simply capriciously. You know, if
you're doing something the police don't like but can't cite you for. Or
they don't like the look of you in general.

Perhaps an even better reason to campaign for their repeal.

Just A User wrote:

Well the only city in CO thats on my list so far if Colorado Springs.

CS is my hometown, born and raised.
Beautiful setting. Good road riding, great
trail riding. Lots of solar radiation. Not
terribly expensive. Some would say there are
too many wacky right-wingers there. There are
also plenty of old hippies, witches
and Sons of Silence. The path system is
awful compared to the useful MUPs in
Denver. IMO the nice parts of town are
central and west; old CS is surrounded on
three sides by the worst sort of suburban
hell which is to be avoided at all costs.
Ghettoes in the suburbs, it surely is the
wave of the future.

Good luck, whatever you decide. And if
you decide to come to Colorado, welcome.

Robert

"Just A User" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Just A User wrote:

Yeah but that law is for those under 16 years of age, I am in my 30's.

And it's not like these laws are enforced anyway.

The only significant MHLs for adults that I know of are
King County, Washington (Seattle metro) and Dallas.
Fair reason for a cyclist to avoid moving to those areas, imo,
even though Seattle is otherwise a sort of Disneyland
for cyclists, with some of the more considerate drivers
to be found in the US.

Robert

Yeah thats what my quick research seemed to indicate. Bellevue WA is on my
list of cities I am considering.

Ken

i think the seattle area is great for cyclists and will be even more so in
the future because the cars cant move. there are way too many of them for an
area hemmed in by water and political gridlock. but be informed except for
the climate, Bellevue (east side) is not seattle, in fact culturally it's
more like Scottsdale, AZ or Ft Lauderdale, FL.

Ken wrote:
I am giving very serious consideration to re-locating and this is
important to me. So the questions is for those that have lived in areas
west of the Great Lakes, which states provide the best areas for
cycling, I have already checked on the rails to trails site and found
that some of the areas I am considering have local trails, so how about
regular road riding?

What you got against the Great Lakes??

Michigan has a ten-cent bottle deposit law. Many of us resident riders
notice that flats are more prevalent in unenlightened commonwealths,
and it's fun to collect and cash them in near state lines.

HTH

--Karen D.
in Grand Rapids

"Just A User" wrote in message
...
Roger Zoul wrote:
Just A User wrote:
:: I am giving very serious consideration to re-locating and this is
:: important to me. So the questions is for those that have lived in
:: areas west of the Great Lakes, which states provide the best areas
:: for cycling, I have already checked on the rails to trails site and
:: found that some of the areas I am considering have local trails, so
:: how about regular road riding?
::
:: Ken

Why so far away? SC & NC are great places for cycling. As is GA.
Well I am moving to get away from the over crowded feeling of the east
coast and to get away from the excessive humidity that is here in Florida
and a certain mold spore that is more prevelent in the southeast.

Ken

if you wanna get away from mold, i would count the NW out.

+1 on Colorado. The towns mentioned are great. But don't count out
Denver either. They have some great bike trails that extend all the
way through the city in a number directions. They continue to expand
their Light Rail as well.
----
Jim Gagnepain
http://home.comcast.net/~oil_free_and_happy/

On Mar 10, 10:48 am, wrote:
Just A User wrote:
Well I am moving to get away from the over crowded feeling of the east
coast and to get away from the excessive humidity that is here in
Florida and a certain mold spore that is more prevelent in the southeast.

The Colorado Front Goathead Preserve
is plenty crowded, imo, but I'm just going
to throw this out there -- Fort Collins. Small-mid
university city, about an hour north of
Denver. If you want to go car free or at
least use your bike as your primary
transportation, the Fort would be very
hard to beat. It is incredibly easy to ride
a bike around that town. They have created
and continue to create a remarkable
infrastructure for transportational cycling.
The road riding in surrounding areas varies
from fantastic to ho-hum -- if recreational
cycling is your main thing you might consider
Boulder, which is the home base for many of
the great road rides in Colorado. Boulder is
expensive, and hard to take in many ways,
however. Fort Collins is more low-key.

Oh yeah -- Bring some REMA patchkits, and
follow the directions in the box.

Robert

wrote:
Just A User wrote:


Yeah but that law is for those under 16 years of age, I am in my 30's.


And it's not like these laws are enforced anyway.

The only significant MHLs for adults that I know of are
King County, Washington (Seattle metro) and Dallas.
Fair reason for a cyclist to avoid moving to those areas, imo,
even though Seattle is otherwise a sort of Disneyland
for cyclists, with some of the more considerate drivers
to be found in the US.

Robert


I live in Dallas, and if there is a helmet law, it does not seem to be
enforced. I see a fair amount of people without. I wear a lid anyway
and always have, so it is no big deal to me one way or the other. I
would check it out if that is a concern for you. I think most of the
big bike groups and all organized rides I have done require some kind of
lid. Weather in North Texas is good for riding all year round, if you
can tolerate temps into the twentys and over 100. It is usually fair
and there are plenty of places to ride especially if you don't mind
going solo which is what I do all but three or four times a year. I
ride nearly every day and am grateful for the mild weather we have most
of the time.